Synchronicity
by FrenchCirce
Summary: Oliver doesn't believe in coincidences. Oneshot. Written for the GH Prompt Challenge on AO3.


This oneshot was written for the Ghost Hunt Prompt Challenge 3: Parapsychology, on AO3. I thought I should share it here too.

The prompt was **Synchronicity** : a term used by C.G. Jung to refer to coincidental events that are meaningfully but not causally connected

* * *

 _"As suggested by C.G. Jung, the existence of synchronicity could be ascertained by the implementation of an experimental method…"_

The light from the lamp on the desk flickered, plunging the room in obscurity for a brief second. Oliver glared at the offending device, which made no sign of wanting to misbehave anymore. Satisfied, he ignored the inconvenience and resumed his reading.

 _"...to determine if the archetype is effectively activated, traditional means of divination should be used. The author suggests..."_

Obscurity hid the words once again.

Sighing exasperatedly Oliver reached to flick the light on, but it stayed resolutely off. As a curse word was threatening to pass his lips a violent splatter of rain hit the window, closely followed by a fugacious flash of light. And then a loud rumble. Thunder.

Oliver let go of the light switch grudgingly. There was no use, it was probably a blackout.

Sighing in resignation this time, he leaned in his chair and took his glasses off, gently massaging the soreness that had settled on the bridge of his nose. Reading this article had been tedious, and almost certainly a waste of time and effort.

Sir Dorey had sent it to him for review because it had a semblance of scientific rigor, but to a discerning eye it was obvious the author had only tried to recycle an old concept without any insightful addition nor objectivity. He would have to send word to BSPR later that the paper wasn't meeting their standards and shouldn't be added to their trimestrial publication...

Oliver put the glasses on the desk. His poor eyesight didn't allow him to work in the semi-darkness, so all he could do to make his time at the office profitable was to catch some well-earned rest. He closed his eyes, letting his muscles relax and his mind drift, lulled by the monotonous melody of the rain pouring outside.

Rain… By an ironical coincidence, the last time he had read about synchronicity was during a thunderstorm, too. He could vividly remember the rivulets of water trailing down the window of his room, the gloomy light of this stormy summer evening, and Gene, lying on his bed and sulking because he couldn't play outside. He was sitting at his desk, the paperback edition of Jung's Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle he had found in Martin's library, opened in front of him. Funnily enough there had been a power outage, too. To kill time Gene had wanted to talk.

"I like this theory," he had declared upon hearing what his brother was studying.

"It is not a matter of "liking", Oliver had retorted. Which he shouldn't have. All Gene had wanted was a debate to pull him out of boredom, and he had just taken the bait. "The point for the scientific community is to criticize objectively and determine if the concept of synchronicity is the expression of a pathological delusion of reference or not. Jung was clearly flirting with an interpretation delirium."

"Why? Because he thought our lives are filled with meaningful coincidences? And that we should pay attention to them? I'm delirious too then!"

"That is an incomplete interpretation of his work. Besides these "meaningful coincidental events" are most probably no coincidences at all. It has been proven that the human brain is prone to interpret as surprising coincidences facts which could have been easily predicted by probability laws. Ever heard about the birthday paradox?"

He had thought he had won the argument. But Gene, as usual, had refused to hear the voice of reason.

"Noll, you really have a knack for ruining all the fun, you know," he had said, looking at his brother in mock pity.

"I fail to see what fun I am supposed to be ruining in the first place." Oliver had replied, somewhat affronted.

"The fun of not being able to explain everything, dear brother! The mystery! Leave room for some in your brain among all this science. I like to believe that the strange coincidences in our lives are some signs left on our road. Some messages from beyond, like a kind soul trying to guide us on the right path. A sort of guardian angel watching out for us. That is definitely more fun than statistics, don't you think?"

"No."

Gene had laughed heartily at the blunt answer. "I should have seen it coming," he had muttered, amused.

"And for your information it's not statistics, but probability."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he had replied, waiving in dismissal. "It doesn't change the fact that one day, you'll be proven wrong. I'm sure you will experience a life-changing coincidence. And then the time comes be sure I'll be there to remind you who was right all along, and who's the wisest here! I am the eldest, after all," he had teased.

"Idiot."

Gene had stuck his tongue out at him, grinning happily.

So foolish.

The stupid medium had been wrong, after all, but Oliver couldn't find any satisfaction in this realization. His brother would have probably argued that he wasn't searching hard enough to find a meaning behind casual facts, that he was blind to the evidence.

Was he? In all honesty the only moment which could make him doubt was this one time when Mai had called him…

"Naru?"

Her voice rang loud and clear in the office. If he hadn't been half-asleep, Oliver would have jumped.

"Mai?" he asked reflexively, wondering for a fleeting second if he was dreaming. Her sudden appearance was so timely…

 _What a coincidence, uh?_ he could almost hear a very smug Gene say.

Her shape moved from the office door frame, coming closer. "Yes it's me," she answered, sounding apologetic. "I'm sorry did I scare you?"

"No," he lied. "Why aren't you home already?"

He heard her grumble.

"I forgot my keys, and of course I realized it only when I was about to board the train home.I had to come back under the thunderstorm, I was lucky I had my umbrella with me! And you, why are you here in the dark?"

"I was working, there was a blackout. I was simply waiting for it to pass."

"You know, I was really worried there was a ghost in your chair! You weren't moving an inch. I'm glad to see you were only sleeping on the job."

She laughed, and he realized he liked the sound.

He shook his head. Maybe he hadn't woken up properly, sleep was making him delusional.

 _Stop being so blind, chided an inner voice which sounded suspiciously like Gene. Doesn't meeting her qualify for "life-changing meaningful coincidence"?_

Japan is a small country, Noll countered. The probability to meet someone with psychic abilities isn't that low…

 _But how many being able to connect with your dead brother? Calling your by your nickname? Having a laughter you actually enjoy?_

Noll had nothing to say.

 _Are you so sure your brother was wrong now?_

Oliver chuckled, and Mai's laughter stopped abruptly.

"Are you really fine Naru? I can swear I heard you laughing!"

"Auditory hallucinations? Interesting. You must have caught a cold in the rain, the fever is making you delirious."

 _Stupid medium. Of course you wanted to have the last word._

"Nevermind, you're your usual self alright," she muttered. But her voice lacked its bite. "Well, since you're okay and there's no ghost, I'm leaving. See you to-"

"Wait."

Her figure stood still, waiting.

 _Just for this once, I'll let you have it._

"I'm coming with you."

* * *

Hum. So. I had to write this in a rush because when you have six months to complete a task of course you wait until the last moment to actually work on it. Plus I got sick, my children got sick, life got crazy, so sorry if this is less polished than usual but I lacked time to edit. And write. And think. If you have any constructive criticism please feel free to share, I think there is potential I couldn't exploit properly there.

Anyway, thanks for reading!


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